Suspect Surrenders in Slayings of 4 Children, 2 Adults

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A man suspected of killing four children, two adults, and wounding a teenage girl at a suburban Houston home has surrendered after a three-hour standoff, according to authorities.

The man had led a parade of almost two dozen deputy constables' patrol cars to a cul-de-sac in a northern Houston suburb shortly before 7 p.m. After hours of waiting and negotiations, the man emerged from his car, raised his hands and sank to his knees as deputies placed him under arrest.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office held a press conference on Thursday morning confirming the suspect's identity as 33-year-old Ron Lee Haskell. Haskell has been charged with capital murder.

Authorities say this was a domestic violence situation involving a divorce, but investigators do not have an official statment from the suspect.

Authorities say he's suspected of shooting and killing the six at the house in Spring, Texas. Two of children slain were boys, 13 and 4, and two were girls, 9 and 7, according to NBC affiliate KPRC.

The kids had initially been described as a mix of the suspects' biological and adopted children, according to the station. But KPRC reported early Thursday that while the suspect was related to the children, it was not clear if he was their father.

Only a wounded 15-year-old girl was left to identify the man and offer a clue to where he was headed.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office issued a news release saying that precinct deputy constables were called to the house in the northern Houston suburb of Spring about 6 p.m. Wednesday and found two adults and three children dead. Another child later died at a hospital.

"It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us," Assistant Chief Deputy Constable Mark Herman of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office told reporters.

The teenager who survived identified the shooter and directed deputies to him.

Deputies were able to intercept, chase and corner the suspect in his vehicle in a cul-de-sac about 3 miles from the shooting scene, authorities said.

A line of about two dozen patrol cars followed the suspect vehicle to the end of the street shortly before 7 p.m. There, the suspect's boxed-in vehicle remained for hours. As darkness fell over the neighborhood, two armored trucks were brought in to block the car from behind and the front as negotiators began their work. Those talks continued for at least three hours without result.

Sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Gilliland described the man as in his 30s with a beard "and cool as a cucumber." He said that when he and other officers approached, the man was "just sitting in his car looking out at us."

Danna Stevens, 75, and her husband, Texas Stevens, live four doors down from the home where the shooting happened. Danna Stevens said she did not know her neighbors well and that they had moved into the subdivision about a year ago.